Cost Savings through Innovation: Eagle P3 Project, Regional Transportation District, Denver, CO AREMA 2014 Annual Conference September 28-October 1, 2014

摘要

The Eagle Project, conducted by the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) with the concessionaire team Denver Transit Partners (DTP), is a public-private-partnership (P3) to include the design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of track, vehicle, and associated infrastructure for commuter rail lines in Denver, CO. The $2.2 billion capital project, comprised of federal funds, RTD sales tax bonds, and private equity from the concessionaire team, will connect downtown Denver to Denver International Airport to the east, Wheat Ridge to the west, and Westminster to the north using 36-miles of new 25kV electrified commuter rail (effectively doubling RTD's existing system). It also includes 14 stations and a new commuter rail maintenance facility (CRMF). This paper will discuss the advantages gained by RTD through utilization of the P3 model. RTD has experienced both cost savings and schedule acceleration by encouraging and accepting the innovation brought to the Eagle Project by the DTP concessionaire team. Simultaneously, risk to RTD continues to be mitigated by the 28-year ownership and maintenance aspect of the project execution. Included herein is specific discussion of the innovation surrounding the live load impact factor used to design direct fixation bridges on the Eagle Project. The RTD-DTP concessionaire contract tasked the design team to investigate this design parameter. The design team's research, including the use of ACI-358.1R-92 and finite element modeling of the structures, showed that impact factors in the 10-15% range may be used. This differs significantly from the AREMA recommendation of 200%. Use of this lesser impact factor economized RTD direct fixation bridge design and construction and exemplifies the benefit of incorporating the expertise of a concessionaire.